existing building, probably to serve as a maqsura. It differed significantly i n scale from the domes already seen as part of the maqsuras 7.11 The Great Mosque from the minaret, Cordoba, 833-988. Parallel rows of ridge-and-valley roofs cover the prayer hall, and the foreground trees are growing in the sahn. One regrets the intrusion of a later Christian church in this splendid Islamic building. 7.12b Plan of Masjid-i-shah, Isfahan, 1611-ca. 1630. At the top is the public square. Entrance to

references to history (the cult of Apollo had long existed on the site, and there had been three predecessor temples 2.27 Temple of Apollo Epicurius, Bassai, ca. 450-425 BCE. This is one of the few Greek temples on which one can look down. The building is undergoing repairs necessitated by earth tremors. G R E E C E : T H E H E L L E N I ST I C P E R I O D 57 lOft 2.28 Floor plan (bottom half) and reflected ceiling plan (upper half), tholes, Epidauros, ca. 360-330 BCE. 2.29 Elevation

colonnade fitted into a black-and-white rhomboidal flooring pattern. The ceiling had ornate coffers with floral decorations. An unused Corinthian capital found buried at the site shows the delicacy and grace achieved by Polykleitos, architect of the tholos. The corner volutes, derived from Ionic columns, are small, and their scroll form is complemented by the stylized curls of acanthus leaves that enrich the bell of the capital. How exactly this building was used is unknown. It has been suggested

of the four ples of Indian a rchitecture in South­ ran Buddha figure of the second or flanking angels have human form and east Asia-the great works at third century C E . Its construction is are inspired by Persian and Mediter­ Borobodur and Angkor. Equally impor­ interesting. Only the basic armature of ranean prototypes; the other two are tant, however, is the great Buddhist the body was carved; over the rough derived from Greek harpies and have pilgrimage complex of Bamiyan in

Pantheon was constructed in the reign of the emperor Hadrian, who is reputed to have been its architect. The entrance is an enormous portico with 124 Pantheon, Rome, ca. 125 CE. This greatest of Hadrianic architectural projects has become one of the most influential works in Western history, the inspiration for virtually every subsequent domed building. The exterior is imposing, while the interior is overwhelming. C H APTER 5 THE ROMAN WORLD 5.18 Giovanni Paolo Panini, The Interior of the